A proposed state-of-the-art renewable energy plant to convert landfill gas to electricity has received the green light from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

The Board, in a unanimous vote at its regular meeting on Oct. 21, gave the go-ahead for OC Waste & Recycling, the Department that manages the County’s three landfills, to revise and update a previous agreement with a private contractor to build a gas-to-energy facility at the county’s Frank R. Bowerman Landfill located in the foothills northeast of Irvine.

Under the agreement, Bowerman Power, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Montauk Energy, will build a processing and power plant that captures landfill gas and converts it to energy. The gas, a natural byproduct of solid waste decomposition, contains significant amounts of methane, which is a prevalent greenhouse gas. Montauk Energy is a leading U.S. producer of renewable green energy from processed landfill methane. Continue reading→